I work for bright horizons. On the plus side, they give you a lot of
freedom to decide your own curriculum, activities, etc. They are also
understanding about time/days off for personal issues, etc. and seem to
try their best to accommodate. My directors are both very nice and
professional, as are all of my co-workers. It seems like a great place to
work if you eventually want to work your way up to Director, Region
Manager, etc. Overall, very professional atmosphere and they have some
great centers out there!
On the downside, and this has more to do with the COMPANY/Center than it
does anyone who works there....Bright horizons seems to be basically an
educational daycare. My center offers back-up care up to age ten for a
relatively low price, so I have had 2nd-3rd graders in my class all day
with barely 3 year olds... To be honest it seems more like babysitting
sometimes than teaching. Their main goal is money (as with any business)
so I have gotten used to random new children in my room, and many drop
ins when schools are closed. I do not get any time for planning, or
really any time away from the children on a normal basis since we have a
lot of kids. The kids that don't nap during the day I often feel bad for,
since we have to have them on their cots from 12:30-3. We also have extra
curricular options such as computer classes, but these are only available
for parents who pay extra, so most do not. When you work at a center that
is open year-round (except for Memorial Day, Christmas Day, etc.), it is
really hard to keep all of the kids entertained every day...A lot of them
are tired, bored, and completely restless by the time Thursday and Friday
roll around - and this is EVERY week. It is difficult. (My center opens
early and closes late....while convenient for parents, it is boring for
the kids, and somewhat exhausting for the teachers) It is true that they
make you do a lot of paperwork, portfolio work, which to me is just extra
work that looks good for the parents but just adds on to the demands for
quite a low-paying job. I do not know about anyone else that spends
40+hrs a week with kids of this age but I am personally mentally
exhausted by the end of the week and definitely don't feel obligated to
put in any extra time to do the stuff that is mainly there to impress
parents.

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